SDR Build vs. Buy Calculator

Hiring an in-house SDR looks cheaper on the offer letter. It rarely is once you add ramp time, tools, and management overhead. Enter your numbers below to see the real Year 1 cost, side by side with a done-for-you outbound system.

Number of SDRs you're hiring Base salary per SDR (USD/yr) Prospecting + sequencing stack

Ramp time before full productivity (months) Manager time spent per SDR (% of a manager's time) Sales manager salary (USD/yr, for overhead calc)

Benefits + payroll tax load is calculated at 25% on top of base salary (standard US employer-cost rule of thumb). Ramp months are counted as full salary cost with zero pipeline output. *ZoomInfo publishes no public per-seat price; the $180/mo equivalent spreads a typical $15K–$40K/yr contract across seats. Sources: RepVue SDR salary data, Apollo pricing, checked August 2026.

In-House SDR Team — Year 1

Salary + benefits (25% load)$75,000

Tools & data$1,188

Management overhead$16,500

Ramp-period cost with no output$18,750

Total in-house cost$111,438

Danish Lead Co.'s done-for-you system starts at $3,000/mo ($36,000/yr) once infrastructure is live — about 210% less overhead on your side.

See if a managed system fits your team →